Hi all! Don't mean to jump into a strand, my great-grandfather was a Michael Angelicola, from Foggia, and followed a similar immigration pattern to many of these other Angelicolas and moved to Waterbury (CT). I also remember a Mary Caruso in my family. Anyhow, glad to see my family surname getting some interest out there.

Hi. On the contrary, thanks for jumping on. This is how most information gets exchanged -- by people recoginizing a name and chiming in on what they know.

From what I've gathered so far on my research, there were TWO Angelicola families that came to the Waterbury, CT area around the same time from Foggia, Italy. I am almost certain that they are related but I cannot find their common ancestor from Italy that would link them together. As you can see from my previous posts, this Nicola Angelicola came over here around 1914, had 2 brothers and 3 sisters, and his parents were named Michael and Giovannina. I don't believe that this Michael and your Michael are the same, however; I do think that they were probably cousins of some sort. I know very little of Nicola's parents or grandparents other than Michael's father was also name Nicola and his wife was named Angelina. Do you know of any links that would connect your family and this family that I am doing research for? Unfortunately, I cannot speak Italian or read it so any records in Italian would be of no use to me. A list of your Michael's ancestors or relatives in Italy (or the U.S.)before they came to the Waterbury, CT area I think would clear up quite a bit of confusion. As you can imagine, names like Nicola and Michele(Michael) were VERY common and you could be researching the wrong line and not even know about it!

Hi - My name is Riccardo Angelicola. I am first generation Italian and my parents came here from Celenza. My Grandfathers name was Leonardo. He was born and died in Celenza. I have been there a couple of times in the 80's (lots of Angelicolas in the cemetery) and my parents still go. I have one uncle here in the states named Anthony. While living in England in the late 70's, I paid for an organization in London to research our name. What they told me about the name "Angelicola" is pretty amazing. I don't have the actual document (I believe my father has it) but, in a nutshell, they found that they could only track the name back to sometime in the 1400s. They were confused because it seemed to appear from nowhere. Upon further research, they claimed to have solved the mystery. According to them, the name Angelicola comes from the name Colangelo. The story goes that the Colangelo's were a wealthy aristocratic family in the 1400s. Something happened between some of the family members and they split. The smaller faction apparently changed their name (switched around and added the "a" at the end) and the name Angelicola was born. Now, you may ask, have I confirmed that research and the answer is no. The organization I used was very reputable and the cost was significant for that time. It may or may not be true but either way, it's an interesting story.

I would love to find the connection between my family and the approximately 60 Angelicola family's in the US (there is even one in Hawaii). Both of my parents are living and have a wealth of information.

Wow! That's some awesome info. Thanks for chiming in on my research so far. Like I've posted in some previous entries, my research into this family comes to a dead end around 1845 or so in Italy where I believe his name was Nicola Angelicola (based on how they traditionally named their children) and he had a wife named Angelina. What is known for certain is that his son (Nicola's, that is) was named Michele S. Angelicola and he was born 12-26-1870 in Italy and died 09-14-1945 in Waterbury, CT. His spouse Giovannina died BEFORE him because he was widowed at the time of his death. Now at some point around the turn of the century, Michele and his children (or some of them, at least) immigrated to Argentina and had a horse or cattle farm there. 2 of his children, Angelina and Maria, were born over there. Years later, they went BACK to Italy and then some of them came to the U.S. 3 of the siblings - Caterina, Batisto, and Salvatore - stayed in Italy (probably with their mother - to the best of my knowledge). I know pretty much nothing about them. Only 3 Angelicola's came to the U.S. - Nicola, Angelina, and Maria. Now this Nicola Angelicola had a son named Anthony Angelicola who resides in Waterbury, CT. I wonder if you are related to him? His is about 78 years old by now. I would love to find a connection between your family and this one. I will be more than happy to share what information I found so far about the Angelicolas with you. Also, any information you could provide me with would be most appreciated as the clients I'm doing this for are growing a little restless since I've run into a little road block with this assignment. Thanks again for jumping on and I look forward to hearing from you soon. ~rad9496

I am going to make some inquiries but my husband said that his Zarelli family is related to the Angelicola's from Waterbury. That would be Giovanni Battista Zarelli from Macchia Valfortore and his wife Teresa Spallone Zarelli from Celenza Valfortore.

Hi. From what I can see. The Zarrelli in this family is Giovannina (or Giovanna on some documents) Zarelli who was the wife of Michele S. Angelicola. He came to the US in 1929 and died approx. 15 years later in Waterbury, CT. They had 6 children - Nicola, Angelina, Maria, Caterina, Batisto and Salvatore. As far as I can see, Giovannina never came to the US -- (I could be wrong, though). That fact is a little sketchy. Also, I don't know if Giovannina had any siblings or what her parents names were. Maybe the people you mention are related to this family? Does any of this ring a bell with your husband? I would be more than happy to exchange information with you. Any information is GOOD information -- even wrong. It eliminates going down or researching the incorrect family tree. Thanks for jumping on. I look forward to your next post. ~rad9496

P.S. - If it would help, I believe at least 2 of the children - Angelina and Maria - were born in Argentina. I believe they had a horse or cattle farm over there.

Matt178 wrote:Hi all! Don't mean to jump into a strand, my great-grandfather was a Michael Angelicola, from Foggia, and followed a similar immigration pattern to many of these other Angelicolas and moved to Waterbury (CT). I also remember a Mary Caruso in my family. Anyhow, glad to see my family surname getting some interest out there.

Hi, I had forgotten to check for reply's to my post about my Angelicola family (back in 2006) and saw your post.
My grandmother was Antoinette Angelicola (learned her 'real" name was Mariantonia Angelicola) and her brother was Michele (Michael) Angelicola who married mary Caruso. (Michael was born in 1899 ).
I found out their father was Guiseppe Angelicola and their mother was Maria ? (A relative told me it could be Maria paqualena, but not sure). My grandmother married Francesco (Frank) Devito in Waterbury, even though she lived in Italy. He came to CT often and worked and stayed with his "brother-in-law" Michael Angelicola, according to ship mainfests. The angelicola siblings ALSO had a sister named Dolarata (?) who married a man with the surname of Gross and they moved to South America (Venezuela) because the quota for Italians coming to the US were filled (this is what an elderly, distant cousin of my mother's emailed me).

Matt178 wrote:Hi all! Don't mean to jump into a strand, my great-grandfather was a Michael Angelicola, from Foggia, and followed a similar immigration pattern to many of these other Angelicolas and moved to Waterbury (CT). I also remember a Mary Caruso in my family. Anyhow, glad to see my family surname getting some interest out there.

Hi, I had forgotten to check for reply's to my post about my Angelicola family (back in 2006) and saw your post.My grandmother was Antoinette Angelicola (learned her 'real" name was Mariantonia Angelicola) and her brother was Michele (Michael) Angelicola who married mary Caruso. (Michael was born in 1899 ).I found out their father was Guiseppe Angelicola and their mother was Maria ? (A relative told me it could be Maria paqualena, but not sure). My grandmother married Francesco (Frank) Devito in Waterbury, even though she lived in Italy. He came to CT often and worked and stayed with his "brother-in-law" Michael Angelicola, according to ship mainfests. The angelicola siblings ALSO had a sister named Dolarata (?) who married a man with the surname of Gross and they moved to South America (Venezuela) because the quota for Italians coming to the US were filled (this is what an elderly, distant cousin of my mother's emailed me).

Hi Matt178,

Please open the following link below. I think these are your ancestors in the 1930 census.

Hi,
Yep, those are my relatives. I had found that page already on ancestry.com. (I have a "tree" on ancestry.com in fact, with pictures of some of the ancestors).
Thank you for sending me the link though, I appreciate it.
So you are related to the Angelicola's? Do you know who your great grandparents were?
Lori

Hi, No..not a relative just doing research. I am pretty sure that your Angelicola's and the Angelicola's I'm researching are related. The same names appear together too frequently for it to be coincidence. They shared the same neighborhood and point of origin to be not of the same family. Typically, when a member of an immigrant family "established" himself in America with a place to live and a job that pays way more than the poverty they left in the old country, subsequent relatives quickly followed. They were assured a place to live and a roof over their head while they sought employment. It made sense. Most of them worked at the same place as well -- the old Century Brass factory in Waterbury (now closed). Now when I checked the old registers for Celenza Valfortore, I found that only a few surnames would originate from the same village. Among the most prevelant were: Angelicola, DeZinno, DeVito, DiZinna, Ricciardi, Spallone, Jacaruso, and Zarelli. As a matter of fact, most of the Angelicolas lived on the same streets between their arrival and well into the 1960's or so: Bank Street, West Porter Street, and Congress Avenue.

Now, as you can see from my previous postings, the Angelicola family that I'm researching had an individual who appears to be probably the "originator" of this line of Angelicolas. That would be Nicola Angelicola. He was born in 1894 and died in 1970 in Waterbury, CT. He had 7 children with a Lucia Jacaruso (or Iacaruso in Italian) and 5 other brothers and sisters from his parents Michele S. Angelicola and Giovannina Zarelli. Now what I think is that your g-grandfather, Michael Angelicola's father was a cousin of this Michele S. Angelicola. If I may ask, do you know what his fathers name or his mothers name was? How about his brothers or sisters? I know very little of Michele S.'s siblings or parents (check my previous posts) as the obituary was very brief and didn't list his wife's name, any siblings, or his parents names.

If you can confirm the tie-in between your g-grandfather Michael and this family line, I'd be more than happy to share my research information with you since they would then be YOUR family tree members as well. Obviously, since you are an Angelicola, I'm sure information about your family connections are easier to come by for you then someone like myself, a researcher, who isn't "privy" to some information regarding family members. One of the many roadblocks a Genealogist like myself comes across when doing this kind of work. I have to say, though, it is very gratifying when a connection is made. As is the case here, I think you and I are VERY CLOSE in making a connection! If it would be helpful to you, you can send me a private message through this forum and I'll provide you with my private email address if you don't want your information made public.

Good luck in your research and I look forward to hearing from you soon. ~Randy

ric3309 wrote:Hi - My name is Riccardo Angelicola. I am first generation Italian and my parents came here from Celenza. My Grandfathers name was Leonardo. He was born and died in Celenza. I have been there a couple of times in the 80's (lots of Angelicolas in the cemetery) and my parents still go. I have one uncle here in the states named Anthony. While living in England in the late 70's, I paid for an organization in London to research our name. What they told me about the name "Angelicola" is pretty amazing. I don't have the actual document (I believe my father has it) but, in a nutshell, they found that they could only track the name back to sometime in the 1400s. They were confused because it seemed to appear from nowhere. Upon further research, they claimed to have solved the mystery. According to them, the name Angelicola comes from the name Colangelo. The story goes that the Colangelo's were a wealthy aristocratic family in the 1400s. Something happened between some of the family members and they split. The smaller faction apparently changed their name (switched around and added the "a" at the end) and the name Angelicola was born. Now, you may ask, have I confirmed that research and the answer is no. The organization I used was very reputable and the cost was significant for that time. It may or may not be true but either way, it's an interesting story.

I would love to find the connection between my family and the approximately 60 Angelicola family's in the US (there is even one in Hawaii). Both of my parents are living and have a wealth of information.

Thank you for the information on the name "Angelicola". My aunts and unlces are still alive (the uncles were BORN in Italy) but can't remember much of anything! (They are in their late 70's and early 80's). It appears my great grandmother (Maria Angelicola) didn't come to the US at all. Her husband (Giuseppe) and daughter (my grandmother) came back and forth and she met and married my grandfather here in the US, but he was from Italy (Francesco DeVito). After they married, my grandmother Mariantonia Angelicola (aka Antoinette to all of us) went back to Italy to stay with her mother while my grandfather stayed in the US. When the time came when the borders would be closed (?) and the quota was filled in the US for Italians (that's what relatives had said), my grandmother came here once and for all. Other than that, I don't know much about the family. APparently, one of her sisters never made it in tome to travle to the US so her and her spouse (" ? Grosso") migrated to Venezuela.
ANy information on the angelicola's would be greatly appreciated. I do know my grandmother's siblings were: Michael, Anna, Dolarata (who went to south america) and a couple others.
Thank you again!

Thank you so much for responding to this strand, again. I am still researching this family and I am ALMOST sure that your family and this one are related. Not so much directly from the US side but the Italy side. What I think happened is that once they migrated from Italy, both factions went their separate ways -- for whatever reasons. Now from what you've just posted, I gather that your G-Grandfather, Guiseppe Angelicola, would have been a comtemporary of this Michele S. Angelicola (spouse of Giovannina Zarelli (or Zarella). It is from THIS level that I believe your family line and this one merge.

Now your Grandmother's siblings, conversely, would be contemporaries of this family's Nicola, Angelina, Maria, Catherine, Salvatore, & Battista. Angelina was born in Argentina (probably on the family's horse farm) and married an Angelo Lambo, and Maria (also born in Argentina & such) married a Daniel Daddona. OK, now, your uncles & aunts (who are in their 70's & 80's, respectfully) would be the same age as the children of these family members. In fact, they are almost exactly the age of an Anthony F. Angelicola of Waterbury, CT -- the son of Nicola Angelicola (please see my previous posts for more info.).

Interestingly enough, the DeVito family in your line were NEIGHBORS of the Angelicola's in the village of Celenza, Foggia! I just [i]KNOW that your family and this one are connected at this level. Does anyone in your family remember how these village members are related? Maybe your uncles or aunts could shed some light on this? Like I said, this Michele S. and your Guiseppe are the key to this. I don't know if Michele S. had any siblings or not. All I do know is that his father was named Nicola and his mother was Angelina. Who knows, these Angelicola's might have even been brothers! Does anyone in your family know who the siblings were of Guiseppe or who his parents were? That would be very helpful information.